


Civil Disobedience

by hannelore



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-27
Updated: 2011-12-27
Packaged: 2017-10-28 05:35:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/304317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannelore/pseuds/hannelore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neville asks a question in Potions class and Snape will not answer it. This doesn't stop him from wanting to know the answer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Civil Disobedience

Neville raised his hand.

Hermione looked at him in surprise, nudging his foot with hers.

"We haven't started the practical yet," Hermione whispered. "Don't worry, I'll help you."

Neville didn't turn to look at her. His hand didn't wave or flutter, he held his arm upward with his fingers splayed. Hermione frowned. She hissed his name under her breath, but then Snape turned around from the blackboard.

Hermione sat up straight and glanced at Harry and Ron. Both boys gave her a puzzled look. What did Neville want? Hermione didn't look back, Snape was glaring right at her and Neville.

"Longbottom," Snape said. He walked over to the desk where Neville and Hermione sat, leaning forward with his fingertips pressed against the surface. Amused irritation. "Do you have something to offer to the lecture?"

"N-no Professor," Neville stammered. Hermione kept her gaze on her work.

"Then why are you interrupting?"

"I had a question," Neville said. Hermione saw Neville's lip trembling out of the corner of her eye.

"A question," Snape repeated. Crabbe and Goyle snickered.

"Y-yes," Neville said. "When are we going to learn how to stopper death?"

Hermione stopped writing. She looked up and saw Snape's face mirror the kind of watchfulness a cat gave a wounded mouse.

"Stopper death, Longbottom?"

Neville twitched. Snape's even and disaffected reply was the batted paw against his mousy fear.

"At the beginning of the year you said we would learn to stopper death," Neville said, a rush of words in one breath.

"You did say that," Hermione added, turning back the pages of her notebook and started to read. "Brew glory, bottle fame and…"

"I believe I was speaking to Longbottom, Miss Granger," Snape said. He did not look her way. "Ten points from Gryffindor for interrupting."

Snape turned away and walked back to the blackboard. Hermione was imagining Snape as a small ugly bug for the rest of class. Snape said nothing more about Neville's question.

***

"Now, pair up and no talking," Snape said.

Neville raised his hand.

"I'll be your partner," Hermione whispered. Neville shook his head and whispered back to her.

"I'm not asking for a partner."

"Neville, he's in a fouler mood than usual, don't…"

"Longbottom!"

Hermione clamped her mouth shut and didn't dare look up.

"Please, Professor," Neville squeaked. "When are we going to learn to stopper death?"

"Not that again," Draco said with a mocking groan.

Snape grabbed Neville by the back of his cloak, hauled him up out of his seat and pushed him against the wall.

"Go on, then," Snape said, jerking Neville's hand upright and pressing it to the wall. The entire room was silent, even Malfoy.

"When are we going to…"

Snape wrenched Neville's arm up higher and Neville winced. Then, Snape let go of his arm and moved away. Neville's hand remained raised and he kept it raised for the remainder of class.

***

The was nothing but the sound of quills against parchment. There was an occasional "blurp" from a burst bubble of the thick mixture in a student's cauldron. Neville stood by the wall with his hand raised. The strain was evident on his face and even in his dark robes, a black sweat stain was seen under his armpit.

***

The next day, Hermione sat down next to Neville. Neville started to raise his hand, but she grabbed it and pulled it down.

"Neville, stop," she said. "He's going to keep doing this to you, he's never going to answer you!"

Neville looked at Hermione and she thought she saw someone other than Neville for just a moment. The day she'd met Neville, he was a teary-eyed boy looking for a lost toad. She felt sorry for Neville and in that moment she realized that he hated that. She let go of his sleeve and watched his hand start to rise. Snape only jerked his thumb toward the wall. Neville stood up to take his place.

***

Hermione told Neville she was going to go to McGonagall. This had gone on for a week straight. How was he ever going to learn anything? Neville pleaded with Hermione not to tell her. In the middle of class, Hermione raised her hand.

"Miss Granger?"

"When are we going to learn to stopper death, Professor?"

"Join Longbottom at the wall of idiots, Granger," Snape said. He did not look up from the mixture he stirred. Hermione kept her hand raised as she stood beside the boy, whose fingers were already trembling. He gave a weak smile, but she didn't look at him. She looked at Snape.

Harry got up from his desk and stood beside Neville, raising his hand. Hermione figured that if there were anything that had the potential to irritate Snape, Harry would join in. Then Ron stood up. Snape's smile tightened and he pointed a thin finger at Ron.

"Sit _down_ , Weasley."

"But I've a question too, Professor," Ron said as he walked over to Harry and raised his hand.

"The next person who gets up gets detention for a week!" Snape bellowed.

All the Gryffindors in the room stood up and walked over to the wall. The Hufflepuffs looked nervous, but then also set their quills down and joined the small crowd of raised hands. Hermione noticed that Neville stood up straighter, his quivering fingers now stiff and unmoving. The only ones left seated were the Slytherins and they looked as if they didn't know whether to laugh or stay silent.

Snape's fury simmered and he ignored the raised hands, instead continuing the lessons for the others as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. Every so often someone's arm would get tired and their arm would start to waver, but then someone would clasp hands with them to keep it raised. But no one complained and no one said a word.

***

The next day, Neville did not raise his hand. Not even the day after that. Later in the common room when Hermione asked him about it, he shrugged.

"He's never going to tell me," Neville said. "I didn't expect you all to do the same. I don't want to keep the lesson from happening, I just want an answer."

"Honestly Neville," Hermione said, exasperated. "Do you think he'd ever teach us how to do a potion that prevents death itself? It's impossible?"

"Brew glory and bottle fame," Neville said. "Stopper death. Why would he say it if he didn't mean it?"

"Because it's a dramatic speech meant to terrify first years?" Hermione said. Neville looked at her, puzzled. Hermione was about to say something else, but Padma interrupted with a question and when she looked back, Neville was gone.

***

As they left St. Mungo's, Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes before they fell. She remembered Neville, his back to the wall, his hand raised. The same hand that had taken the gum wrapper from his mother's hand.


End file.
